By Paleki Ayang
JUBA, Feb 27 2024 – Female genital mutilation (FGM) stands as one of the most egregious violations of human rights, particularly affecting women and girls worldwide. However, when conflict and forced displacement enter the equation, the horrors of FGM are exacerbated, creating a dire situation that demands urgent attention and action. Where instability and insecurity prevail, the prevalence of FGM often intensifies, exacerbated by factors such as displacement, poverty, and the breakdown of social systems.

On April 15, 2023, war erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), plunging the country into an intense political and humanitarian crisis with unprecedented emerging needs. As of December 2023, over 7.4 million people were uprooted from their homes by the 9-month conflict, of which about half a million fled to neighboring Egypt, a country that also has similarly high records of FGM cases.

Equality Now and the Tadwein Center for Gender Studies are currently commissioning a study in Egypt among select Sudanese families in Cairo and Giza to understand the particularities of cross-border FGM, to analyze the attitude of Sudanese families in Egypt towards FGM and to assess possible changes in the practice, such as the type of cutting, and the age of girls when they are cut.

Nexus between conflict, displacement, and FGM

Although Sudan legally banned the practice of FGM in 2020, women and girls continue to face heightened risks of violence, exploitation, and abuse, including FGM. Ongoing conflict has led to the breakdown of the rule of law and governance structures in Khartoum and a few other states.

Declaring a state of emergency permits the government to prioritize security and stability over individual rights and the rule of law. In some locations with relative stability, there is selective enforcement of laws driven by social polarization, exacerbating discriminatory practices and inequalities.

Additionally, in the chaos of displacement, traditional practices may persist, perpetuating the cycle of FGM and denying women and girls agency over their bodies and futures.

The nexus between conflict, displacement, and FGM underscores the urgent need for holistic, multi-sectoral approaches that address the root causes of the practice and provide comprehensive support to affected populations.

However, it is critical to redefine how the multi-sectoral approach could roll out within the context of conflict, specifically where legal protections for women and girls are minimal or non-existent.

The usual activities undertaken by activists and civil society organizations—such as advocacy campaigns, community outreach programs, and legal reforms—may be hampered by the chaotic and unpredictable nature of conflict environments, making it challenging to mobilize support and raise awareness about the harms of FGM.

Strengthening responses to FGM during conflict and displacement

Conversations about new and innovative ways where legal frameworks and policy measures need to be strengthened to prohibit FGM must happen, and perpetrators must be held accountable for their actions, even amid conflict and displacement.

A report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Humanitarian Settings in the Arab Region, published by UNFPA in 2021, discusses the challenges and barriers to addressing FGM in such contexts and offers recommendations for stakeholders involved in humanitarian response and protection efforts.

This is critical, as the prevention and response to FGM are not prioritized in humanitarian settings due to lack of funding and political will. The report underscores the importance of culturally sensitive approaches, community engagement, capacity building, and partnerships to combat FGM and support survivors in humanitarian settings effectively.

Medicalization of FGM requires urgent attention. Prior to the start of the current conflict, Sudan had the highest rate of medicalized FGM globally, accounting for 67% of cases in the country.

The collapse of healthcare systems and infrastructure brought about a different reality that necessitated changing health priorities. It could be argued that the medicalization of FGM diverts already strained resources, attention, and expertise in-country away from essential healthcare services, especially sexual and reproductive health services, including responding to conflict-related sexual violence and maternal and child health.

Women’s rights groups in Khartoum and other towns have established Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) and other community-driven mutual aid efforts that could be used to mainstream FGM-related interventions as they respond to emerging humanitarian needs. Additionally, efforts to integrate FGM prevention and response into broader humanitarian assistance programs are essential in reaching displaced populations with life-saving interventions and support.

Engaging communities, religious leaders, and key stakeholders in the ‘new social structures’ shaped by conflict and displacement can foster much-needed dialogue, dispel myths, and promote alternative rites of passage that celebrate womanhood without resorting to harmful practices.

Despite having different priorities as displaced women and girls—such as humanitarian, livelihood, and other urgent needs— empowering them with knowledge and agency is essential in enabling them to assert their rights and resist pressures to undergo FGM.

Addressing FGM amongst Sudan’s displaced communities

Community-led initiatives to end FGM among Sudanese communities displaced from Khartoum into neighboring states or neighboring countries must take into consideration the diverse ethnic groups in Sudan—each with their distinct cultural traditions and practices relating to FGM, with some communities practicing different types of FGM. This requires an in-depth understanding of the sociocultural factors that drive it.

Although wealthier households in Sudan and people in urban areas were previously less likely to support FGM’s continuation, conflict highlights the intersectional impacts on different groups of women and girls, and forced displacement could result in the practice being carried to host countries that may lack effective legal frameworks or enforcement mechanisms to address cross-border FGM.

Considering anti-FGM interventions transcend geographical boundaries and ethnicities, they must be carefully tailored to community needs. Cross-border FGM could also be driven by a sense of struggling to maintain a cultural identity and uphold perceived social status in a new society.

Reaffirming commitments to end FGM

At the international level, concerted action is needed to address the intersecting challenges of FGM, conflict, and forced displacement. The United Nations and other multilateral organizations must prioritize the issue on the global agenda, mobilizing resources and political will to further research, support affected populations, and strengthen efforts to eradicate FGM in conflict-affected areas.

Moreover, partnerships between governments, civil society organizations, and grassroots activists remain essential in driving a collective response that transcends borders and builds solidarity among diverse stakeholders.

As Sudanese women bear the brunt of violence and displacement, women-led organizations are instrumental in fostering resilience and actively rebuilding their communities. Supporting and financing these organizations should be prioritized, as it is not only a matter of promoting rights but also a pathway to peace and stability.

As we confront the grim reality of FGM amidst conflict and forced displacement, we must reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental rights and dignity of every woman and girl. We cannot stand idly by as generations continue to suffer the devastating consequences of this harmful practice.

Now is the time for bold and decisive action guided by principles of justice, equality, and compassion. Together, we can break the chains of FGM, offering hope and healing to those who have endured untold suffering and paving the way for a future free from violence and discrimination for all.

Note: Paleki Ayang is Equality Now’s Gender Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Anwarul K. Chowdhury
NEW YORK, Feb 27 2024 – With its current cash crisis, UN’s leadership is finding itself in a helpless situation both politically and financially. The UN’s credibility has reached rock bottom.

Abusive use of veto power against global public opinion over the years, more so in recent times, have thrown spanners at all potentially meaningful efforts at the UN. Such irrational and national-interest generated actions have been ominous for the UN to undertake its Charter-mandated roles.

The General Assembly with its universal membership is so toothless that its decisions are forgotten before the those get formally printed as UN documents.

I am often asked, during ‘questions and answers’ segment following my public speaking, if I want to recommend one thing that would make the UN perform better, what would it be. My clear and emphatic answer always has been “Abolish the Veto!”

Veto is undemocratic, irrational and against the true spirit of the principle of sovereign equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

In an opinion piece on the IPS wire service back in March 2022, I wrote: “Believe me, the veto power influences not only the decisions of the Security Council but also all work of the UN, including importantly the choice of the Secretary-General.”

In the same opinion piece, I asserted that “I believe the abolition of veto requires a greater priority attention in the reforms process than the enlargement of the Security Council membership with additional permanent ones.

Such permanency is simply undemocratic. I also believe that the veto power is not ‘the cornerstone of the United Nations’ but in reality, its tombstone.”

With interlinkages and interconnectedness of all the matters being handled by the world body, challenges of maintaining international – my preferred expression is “global” -peace and security have become absolutely and threateningly overwhelming.

I believe increasing frequency of unilateral exercise of veto by erstwhile superpowers is a clear manifestation of that complexity. So, the global good has been set aside in the narrow political interest of the leadership in those countries.

The situation demands realistic and credible actions by the UN leadership to tackle the biggest existential crisis being faced by the UN in its nearly eight decades of existence.

We need to revisit the operational credibility of our much-cherished world body. What was needed in 1945 to be enshrined in the UN Charter is to be judged in the light of current realities.

If the Charter needs to be amended to live up to the challenges of global complexities and paralyzing intergovernmental politicization, let us do that. It is high time to focus on that direction.

Blindly treating the words of the Charter as sacrosanct may be self-defeating and irresponsible. The UN could be buried under its own rubble unless we set our house in order now.

With the 2030 deadline for SDGs knocking at the door, the call in the Bali G-20 Summit declaration for “inclusive multilateralism” is a timely alert to realise that current form of multilateralism dominated by rich and powerful countries and well-organized vested interests, on most occasions working with co-aligned objectives, cannot deliver the world we want for all.

That elitist multilateralism has failed.

Minimalistic, divisive, dismissive, and arrogant multilateralism that we are experiencing now gives honest multilateralism a bad name. Multilateralism has become a sneaky slogan under which each country is hiding their narrow self-interest to the detriment of humanity’s best interest. It is a sad reality that these days negotiators play “politicking and wordsmithing” at the cost of substance and action.

Multilateralism – as we are experiencing now – clearly shows it has lost its soul and objectivity. There is no genuine engagement, no honest desire to mutually accommodate and no willingness to rise above narrow self-interest-triggered agenda. It has become a one-way street, a mono-directional pathway for the rich and powerful. Today’s multilateralism needs redefining!

Let me conclude by asserting that, all said, I continue to hold on to my deep faith in multilateralism and, at the same time, my belief and trust in the United Nations as the most universal organization for the people and the planet is renewed and reaffirmed!

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is the Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP), Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN (1996-2001) and Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations (2002-2007).

IPS UN Bureau

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By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27 2024 – The two devastating military conflicts—Russia vs Ukraine and Israel vs Hamas—have exposed once again the stark reality that the United Nations, created 79 years ago to maintain international peace and security, has failed in its political mission – while its credibility is at stake.

Russia is accused of violating the UN charter by invading a sovereign nation state and causing hundreds and thousands of deaths over two years — with no signs of a peaceful settlement.

The accusations against Israel include war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing and the disproportionate killings of over 30,000 civilians, mostly women and children in Gaza—in retaliation for 1,200 killings by Hamas last October.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has taken a rightful stand on the two conflicts, has been criticized by both countries, with Israel calling for his resignation while ignoring his request for a meeting or a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli government also continues to remain defiant—and rejects the demands of the world body—while it is shielded by its longstanding political, economic and military ally: the United States, one of the permanent members of the UNSC.

According to a report in the New York Times last week, the US has used its veto more than 40 times— to be precise, 48 times by some estimates– to shield Israel since the creation of the UN in 1945.

Meanwhile, China and Russia have also used their vetoes to protect their allies, including the Assad regime in Syria and the military regime in Myanmar, bringing the UNSC to a paralytic standstill.

With Russia and Israel continue to be defiant, one lingering question remains: has the UN and UNSC outlived their usefulness?

Norman Solomon, executive director, Institute for Public Accuracy and national director, RootsAction.org, told IPS the repeated U.S. vetoes of Security Council resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza reflect a renewed moral collapse in Washington, which supplies Israel with 80 percent of its weapons imports.

“The vetoes are unconscionable moves to sustain the mass murder of Palestinian people by an Israeli government committing large-scale war crimes on a daily basis,” he said.

The leadership of the United Nations and key UN agencies have released a steady stream of data and condemnations, correctly spotlighting the murderous ongoing actions of the Israeli military in Gaza, he pointed out.

“But the U.S. government, continuing to aid and abet those actions, has purposefully immobilized the Security Council while the massive humanitarian disaster continues with U.S. arms and U.S. “diplomatic” backing,” said Solomon, author of “War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine.”

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco, who has written extensively on the politics of the UNSC, told IPS over half of all U.S. vetoes have been used to shield Israel from criticism. This, in spite of the fact that each of these were under Chapter VI, not Chapter VII, so the Security Council would not have been able to enforce them anyway

“Though Russia and China have not used their veto as often, they have similarly abused this power in protecting such allies as Syria and Myanmar which–like Israel–have engaged in serious war crimes and other violations of international law.”

“Having the United Nations repeatedly blocked from being able to enforce its Charter is incredibly frustrating for those of us who believe in a rules-based international order,” he argued.

At the same time, he said, forcing leaders like Biden and Putin to block otherwise-unanimous resolutions underscores their isolation in the international community, making it clear to the world that they are effectively accomplices in illegal conduct.

“This harms their credibility internationally and therefore weakens their diplomatic influence. As a result, even unsuccessful resolutions have the potential of creating greater pressure, both internationally and domestically, for them to change their policies and eventually allow the United Nations to do its job,” declared Zunes.

Solomon said the UN’s long-standing structural inequities and emerging cold-war hostilities have pushed it into an unproductive corner of geopolitical stalemates.

“The outsized power of the Security Council and its vulnerability to vetoes from its permanent members have exerted dual leverage to marginalize most of the world on matters of war, peace and human rights”.

While the General Assembly, he argued, certainly includes representatives of many governments with hypocritical if not dirty or even bloody hands, those nearly 200 nations at least indirectly reflect the world as a whole.

Time after time, he said, the General Assembly has taken votes that justly and overwhelmingly condemned actions of the powerful. Yet to the extent that a locus of power exists at the UN, it is the Security Council that largely wields it. And the Security Council’s capacity to push for peace and human rights is undermined by the power of a single government to block such a push.

“The United States accounts for just 4 percent of the world’s population, and for Russia the figure is less than 2 percent. Even for China, the number is no more than 17 percent. Yet the governments of those countries routinely cast looming shadows over the bright promises of the United Nations,” declared Solomon.

In this power context, he noted, the new cold war can only be ominous for the UN as a world body that could help to heal the world’s wounds instead of enabling them to fester.

During the last several decades, the United States led the world in magnitude and frequency of flagrant aggression against other countries.

In this century, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and other nations were subjected to U.S.-led attacks with horrific results of carnage. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago was a like-minded assertion of “might makes right,” initiating and sustaining slaughter.

While of course blocking any condemnations of their own actions, the U.S. and Russia also covered for their allies, using vetoes in the Security Council to protect them from condemnation, declared Solomon.

Meanwhile, in a statement released last week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said
Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine, a war which has entered its third year with no end in sight, continues to cause serious and widespread human rights violations, destroying lives and livelihoods.

In its latest report, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has verified 30,457 civilian casualties since 24 February 2022 – comprising 10,582 killed and 19,875 injured, with the actual numbers likely to be significantly higher.

Millions have been displaced, thousands have lost their homes, and hundreds of medical and educational institutions have been damaged or destroyed, significantly impacting people’s rights to health and education.

“The long-term impact of this war in Ukraine will be felt for generations,” said Türk.

And, in early February, UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, said she remains horrified at the situation in the Middle East and at the unbearable loss of life in the region, with allegations of violations of international law.

She has called for a humanitarian ceasefire, full compliance with international law and prioritization of protection of civilians and for the intensification of diplomatic efforts to put an end to this crisis.

She has emphasized that “civilians should never pay the price of a conflict for which they bear no responsibility. Their most basic rights must be protected and preserved, and their humanitarian needs must be met”.

Echoing the words of the UN Secretary-General, the Special Adviser has reiterated that violations of international humanitarian law can never justify the collective punishment of the people in Gaza.

“Civilians must be protected at all times on both sides,” she said. The Special Adviser also called on all relevant actors to strengthen their resolve to find solutions to end this conflict.

“This requires first and foremost ensuring the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructures in accordance with international law. And includes the safe return of all hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza as well investigating acts of sexual violence reportedly committed in the context of the attacks of 7 October 2023 and their aftermath.,” she added.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Anis Chowdhury
SYDNEY, Feb 27 2024 – Israel continues to reject calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and now readies itself for an assault on Rafah with a Ramadan deadline for the release of all hostages. It emphatically says, it will oppose any international attempt at creating a Palestinian State, regarded as an “unilateral recognition”. Its unrestrained bombings and ground assaults so far have resulted in close to 30,000 Palestinian deaths more than half of whom are women and children. they have brazenly ignored the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to take all measures to prevent a plausible genocide. Many thousands are facing starvation and death even when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) demanded unhindered aid flows to besieged Gaza. All these were possible due to Israel’s ‘unbounded’ impunity which emboldens it.

Anis Chowdhury

‘Unbounded’ impunity
This begins with accepting uncritically whatever Israel claims or does. Take for example, President Biden claimed that Hamas beheaded babies. Echoing a statement made that same day by a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he even said that he had seen “confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”

President Biden did not fully retract his assertion even after the Israeli government said it could not confirm the report made by Netanyahu’s office; it was left to a White House spokesperson to walk it back. Then President Biden repeated that Hamas “were cutting babies’ heads off”, without offering any evidence. Yet he had no sympathy or condemnation that babies were dying and their bodies rotting inside Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, as Israel bombed it, shell it and cut off its essential supplies.

Israel justified its targeting of Al-Shifa claiming that it was Hamas’s command and control centre. Even when it failed to provide any credible evidence, the US claimed “confidence” in the Israeli intelligence authorities. An investigation by The Washington Post found among other things that “the rooms connected to the tunnel network discovered by the IDF showed no immediate evidence of military use by Hamas; none of the five hospital buildings identified by Hagari appeared to be connected to the tunnel network, and no evidence that the tunnels could be accessed from inside hospital wards”.

President Biden doubted Palestinian claims of the death tolls due to Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” by his own admission. Then the White House downplays Biden’s remarks while the US continues to provide military assistance and diplomatic support, including repeated vetoes against cease-fire resolutions at the UNSC, the latest being on 21 February. The Guardian’s cartoonist, Fiona Katauskas, explained the US veto as “It’s not that we’re anti-ceasefire so much as pro-not standing up to Netanyahu”.

As of 19 February, Israel’s assault in Gaza has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, making it one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. Additionally, more than 69,000 Palestinians have been wounded, overwhelming the territory’s hospitals, less than half of which are even partially functioning.

All these are not sufficient to waver the US support for Israel. Thus, the US and its Western allies accept Israel’s claim that there is no “uninvolved Palestinians”. “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible,” Israel’s Isaac Herzog said as Israel ordered 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate their homes.

Israel’s US-led Western allies were quick to sacrifice the most fundamental basis of justice, that is, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty when they suspended funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) responding to the Israeli accusation that some 10 UNRWA employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack. This puts the burden of proof on the accused, not on the accuser as the presumption of innocence requires to guard against “type I error” or “false positive” that an innocent is punished wrongly.

The action ignores the good work of thousands of UNRWA employees and the fact that hundreds of them sacrificed their lives in serving humanity in an extreme situation. The US and its Western allies have not restored funding even when “the allegations against staff remain murky”, and the UNRWA sacked the accused denying their fundamental right to justice, and promptly instituted an investigation.

Suspension of UNWRA funding reinforces Israel’s narrative that Palestinians deserve collective punishment as no Palestinian is innocent. It also serves Israel’s attempt to by-pass or scuttle ICJ’s order as well as the UNSC resolution to ensure uninterrupted flows of aid and essential supplies – food, fuel, water and medicine, in particular.

Expansionist Israel
The uncritical acceptance of Zionist narratives helped Israel expand its border beyond the 1947 (November) UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (II), recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish States and a Special International Regime for the city of Jerusalem and its surroundings. The Arab state was to have a territory of 11,100 square kilometres (42%), the Jewish state a territory of 14,100 square kilometres (56%), while the remaining 2% – comprising the cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the adjoining area—would become an international zone.

In the 1948 war Israel expanded its territory to 77% of Palestine, including a large part of Jerusalem. Over half of the Palestinian population fled or were expelled which the Palestinians call “Nakba” or “catastrophe”. The official Zionist narrative asserted that the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine before 1984) faced annihilation on the eve of the1948 war. It also portrayed the Arab side as Nazis.

However, Simha Flapan’s 1987 book, The Birth of Israel: Myths and Realities, relying on declassified Israeli documents, debunked this narrative and showed that there was no such danger. The Jewish community easily won the diplomatic battle in the UN, backed by the US, the first country to recognise Israel, and was favoured by the balance of military power on the ground. Yet, the myth of annihilation became central in driving unconditional Western support for Israel.

The 1967 Six-Day War culminated in Israel’s absorption of the whole of historical Palestine, including the West Bank (from Jordan) as well as additional territory from, Egypt (Gaza Strip and all of the Sinai Peninsula up to the east bank of the Suez Canal) and Syria (Golan Heights). By the end of the war, Israel expelled another 300,000 Palestinians from their homes, including 130,000 who were displaced in 1948, and gained territory that was three and a half times its size.

Inconsistent, but mostly supportive, policies of the US and its Western allies towards Israel’s annexations of occupied Palestinian territories and settlements violating the international law allowed Israel to absorb all of Palestine – “from the River to the Sea”. At the recent ICJ hearing on Israel’s occupation of Palestine, the US argued that Israel should not be ordered to immediately and unconditionally end occupation, while the UK sought to block the hearing. Thus, the Western powers acquiesce with Israel’s claims of Jewish people’s “historical right to Judea and Samaria” hypocritically promoting a so-called “two-state solution”.

Emboldened Israel
Unsurprisingly, the US and its Western allies did not raise concerns when on 22 September Netanyahu brandished map of Israel that included West Bank and Gaza at his UN speech. Sadly, but understandably, the lone protesters were dispossessed Palestinians. Laith Arafeh, Palestinian Ambassador to Germany, tweeted, “No greater insult to every foundational principle of the United Nations than seeing Netanyahu display before the UNGA a ‘map of Israel’ that straddles the entire land from the river to the sea, negating Palestine and its people”.

Netanyahu’s new Middle-East map was spun as ushering a “new era of peace”; but ironically in less than a month the region exploded. Knowing fully that the US and its Western allies are firmly with Israel, Netanyahu defiantly declared, “We won’t capitulate to any pressure”.

Netanyahu rejects demands for a Palestinian state, winning overwhelming backing of Israel’s parliament. The emboldened Israel’s blue-print for “day after” is a smack on the face of the US and its Western allies, exposing their deceit and hypocrisies.

Anis Chowdhury is Adjunct Professor, School of Business, Western Sydney University. He held senior United Nations positions in the area of Economic and Social Affairs in New York and Bangkok.

IPS UN Bureau

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